# Syrian Latakia - Gone Forever but Some Blends are Still Availalbe



## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

It's odd, but during the last two days, I've had two BOTLs ask me about which Syrian Latakia Blends might still be available. I had done some research on that a short time ago and established a list for my personal use. Syrian Latakia is my favorite with respect to blends containing Latakia. They stopped growing it several years ago and the only available Syrian Latakia is what has been hoarded and stored by a few tobacco companies. It is possible that in five, ten or maybe 20 years from now, they may try growing it again, however, many experts, in the field, say that will never happen, and that it's gone forever!

I have decided to share my listing of the blends that are still available, with the BOTLs on this form. Most, if not all of these should be available, and, at least for now, are still being produced. If you like this tobacco, you should stock up of a few of these blends. If you don't know or are unfamiliar with any Syrian Latakia Blends, you owe it to yourself to give them a try.

Note: If anyone knows of any other Syrian Latakia Blends that are still available, I would appreciate a heads-up on them!

*Syrian Latakia Blends*

*McClellands Super Balkan 50g tin*
Mellow, fragrant, lavishly flavorful from start to finish. Seasoned with the finest Louisiana Perique.

*McClelland Syrian Full Balkan 50g tin *
Mild, cool-smoking, rich with Syrian Latakia's unique, exotic fragrance.

*McClelland Rose of Latakia 50g tin *
A complex, delicate, fragrant blend. Only the most precious, most flavorful leaves are called Rose of Latakia.

*McClelland Frog Morton Across The Pond *- 50 & 100g tins
A cool smoking, fragrant blend enhanced with Syrian Latakia.

*Mac Baren Latakia Blend 100g tin*
Whole Virginia leaves, which are specially selected, are used as wrapper for all Mac Baren spun tobaccos. The inlay for this very special blend is a mix of Virginia, original Mac Baren Cavendish, and just a touch of Syrian Latakia leaves. In combination these tobaccos give Latakia Blend its fresh and satisfying smoke. Like all Mac Baren spun tobaccos only a little top flavor has been added. These tobaccos are the closest you get to the natural tobacco taste.

*CAO/Dan Tobacco Gordon Pym 50g tin * - This blend is made of golden yellow Virginia, Maryland, and a little Dark Fired Virginia. It also contains Orientals and Syrian latakia. It is square cut and burns very nicely.

*Solani Golden Label Blend No. 779 50g tin*
A sophisticated English blend with an extraordinary mixture of red, ripe Virginia, fine Oriental tobaccos and Syrian Latakia. This very mild blend will appeal to both Latakia lovers and those who prefer a real natural taste. Crimp cut.

*Bjarne The Special One 100g tin *
A smoking mixture based on mellow Virginia leaf seasoned with a pinch of smoky Syrian Latakia and very mild black Cavendish, my special evening pleasure.

*Cornell & Diehl Black Dog in Bulk*
Syrian Latakia and unflavored black Cavendish make this a wonderfully smooth smoke.

*Brebbia Latakia No. 9 Mixture 50g tin*
Natural Sweet Virginia and a generous amount of Syrian Latakia that is pressed and aged, this is outstanding!

*Brebbia Balkan Blend 50g tin*
Full bodied blend of the finest Oriental tobaccos, dark-fired Kentucky, Louisiana Perique, and 40% Syrian Latakia - delicious.

*Brebbia English Mixture No. 70 50g tin*
A spicy crosscut blend of Syrian Latakia, Louisiana Perique, and bright Virginias that is cool, smooth, long lasting and delicious.

*Brebbia English Mixture No. 80 50g tin*
A very fine blend of Syrian Latakia, mahogany colored spicy Burley's, and bright Virginias. This offers an incredible taste with a superb fragrance.

*Brebbia Preludio Mixture 50g tin*
This is a fine blend consisting of Virginia tobaccos, from the US, high quality Macedonian tobaccos, and Syrian Latakia. It is an exclusive aristocratic pipe mixture, a classic English Blend.

*Karl Erik No# 20 - 50g tin *
Aromatic Virginias from Central Africa and North America treated in a special Cavendish procedure, gently sliced into fine flakes. Mixed with spicy Syrian Latakia. This is a very satisfying tobacco.

*Ashton Artisan's Blend 50g tin*
This full-bodied English mixture is carefully crafted for the experienced pipe smoker. Virginia and Turkish tobaccos harmonize with Syrian Latakia and a touch of Perique to create a taste that is resoundingly rich, spicy and satisfying.


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## pistol (Mar 23, 2006)

Great post, I can't give anymore RG, otherwise I would. Thanks for the list! *edit* One to add is the PCCA Orient 996.


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## Alyks (Jun 2, 2007)

I just found a pouch of MacBaren's HH Vintage Syrian at the bottom of my modest cellar. Excellent blend. It is very nicely balanced. You can pick out the virginias and orientals very easily, and the latakia is not overpowering.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

There's the MacBaren HH Vintage Syrian. Plumcake also uses a little Syrian.


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## worr lord (Feb 3, 2007)

Guess I won't be popping my last ('04) tin of Across the Pond just yet.


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## Puffy69 (Sep 8, 2005)

Nice post Johnny...Thanks for all you do here..:tu


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## Silky01 (Jul 16, 2007)

pistol said:


> Great post, I can't give anymore RG, otherwise I would. Thanks for the list! *edit* One to add is the PCCA Orient 996.


I'll hit it for you what I can.
edit--nevermind, apparently I've already hit his RG . . .

Thanks so much for the post. I've just gotten into pipes, but I've got some of the Frog Morton and Rose of Latakia. I love the frog morton--really smooth smoke. I'll definitely stock up on it the next chance I get. Not as crazy about the Rose of Latakia though, but my palate is developing, so we'll see.


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## smokinmojo (Jan 24, 2005)

JohnnyFlake said:


> Note: If anyone knows of any other Syrian Latakia Blends that are still available, I would appreciate a heads-up on them!


Nice list! Here's one lakakia junkies might want to pick up. I buy some as often as I can for mixing.

Robert McConnell Pure Latakia. (its 100% Syrian latakia) McConnell or Kohlhase & Kopp are the only two I know of (same company) that are marketing Syrian for blending.


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2008)

A number of the Peter Heinrichs blends use the good stuff, #169 #39 to name a few.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

I've looked several times for information on this subject and it seems that Syrian latakia is still being produced and the only thing affecting its availability is the warehouse fire at C&D that destroyed their entire stock and also poor political relations with Syria that makes importation of fresh latakia iffy. Unless I'm wrong I really don't think this will affect the production of blends in mainland Europe and should only affect american and maybe UK blenders.

Does anyone know any different about this? According to MacBarens website Syrian is still being produced.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

pistol said:


> Great post, I can't give anymore RG, otherwise I would. Thanks for the list! *edit* One to add is the PCCA Orient 996.


This great blend it Sold Out!. They say that they will produce more in late January 2008, however, there is some concern over the supply of Syrian Latakia.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

Mad Hatter said:


> I've looked several times for information on this subject and it seems that Syrian latakia is still being produced and the only thing affecting its availability is the warehouse fire at C&D that destroyed their entire stock and also poor political relations with Syria that makes importation of fresh latakia iffy. Unless I'm wrong I really don't think this will affect the production of blends in mainland Europe and should only affect American and maybe UK blenders.
> 
> Does anyone know any different about this? According to MacBarens website Syrian is still being produced.


That is not correct! I haven't checked McBarens Site, but if they are claiming that, it's a mystery as to why they would. If you do some serious research into production, you will find that they have stopped growing it in Syria, which is the only place in the world that it is grown. As I understand it, the Syrian Government destroyed all the crop several years ago and will no longer allow for it to be grown. Most certainly this has become a political issue of some kind. Even after the fire that destroyed most of the stored Syrian Latakia in the USA, McClelland and C&D were well healed, at there storage facilities, but even those supplies are dwindling! At the time that Syria destroyed the crops, it was estimated that there was a three or four year supply available in Europe and that should be pretty much used up as well!


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

Thanks to those of you who have added a few other blends that contain Syrian Latakia, and that are still available!


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## JacksonCognac (Nov 12, 2007)

Johnny, excellent post. I'll look into picking up a few of these blends while they are around. It seems odd that the Syrian govt would want to stop growing a cash crop like Syrian Latakia... but hey that whole area is a mess so it wouldn't surprise me.


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## jgros001 (Jun 14, 2005)

Thanks to Johnny and the others who have contributed.....you guys made sure I got free shipping at smokingpipes!!


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## pistol (Mar 23, 2006)

JohnnyFlake said:


> This great blend it Sold Out!. They say that they will produce more in late January 2008, however, there is some concern over the supply of Syrian Latakia.


Bummer, so it is! Hopefully it will be remade in January 08!h


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

JohnnyFlake said:


> That is not correct! I haven't checked McBarens Site, but if they are claiming that, it's a mystery as to why they would. If you do some serious research into production, you will find that they have stopped growing it in Syria, which is the only place in the world that it is grown. As I understand it, the Syrian Government destroyed all the crop several years ago and will no longer allow for it to be grown. Most certainly this has become a political issue of some kind. Even after the fire that destroyed most of the stored Syrian Latakia in the USA, McClelland and C&D were well healed, at there storage facilities, but even those supplies are dwindling! At the time that Syria destroyed the crops, it was estimated that there was a three or four year supply available in Europe and that should be pretty much used up as well!


Dunno Johnny. If I knew how to begin doing serious research I guess I would have done so by now, but searches for Syrian Latakia show nothing. I've done several searches over several months looking for an answer and get NADA

http://www.mac-baren.com/TopMenu/Expert-Knowledge/Raw-Tobacco/Raw-tobacco/Latakia.aspx

Here's the MacBaren page, bottom line


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

Mad Hatter said:


> Dunno Johnny. If I knew how to begin doing serious research I guess I would have done so by now, but searches for Syrian Latakia show nothing. I've done several searches over several months looking for an answer and get NADA
> 
> http://www.mac-baren.com/TopMenu/Expert-Knowledge/Raw-Tobacco/Raw-tobacco/Latakia.aspx
> 
> Here's the MacBaren page, bottom line


Thanks for the link to McBaren. I am positive that link is several years old. The statement is or was correct when it was posted. If you look at the very bottom of the page that comes up when you click on that link, follow it all the way down, it tells you that the date of that page was 2002.

A note about completing a serious search for information, especially when you have the time and patients. First, I run searches on various search engines, Yahoo, Google and so on. I use all the words and phrases I can think of that apply to the Information I am trying to find out, and I mix them up as well. I take notes or copy and paste, on a Word Document, anything that has some information. I especially look for telephone numbers and email addresses. When I have exhausted those types of searches, if I am not satisfied with the information I found, I start to email, the experts and authors of various articles, companies and so on, that I have found in my searches. Results from emails are often frustrating, but you need to try, as every now and then you'll get a great reply. In addition, I call people up. Any telephone numbers I come up with, I call. Hell, you will be surprised at how much information you can get by a simple phone call. One downer with phone calls, though, is that many numbers will be disconnected, but just keep on going!!!

It ain't easy Bro, sometimes I spend a couple of hours a day, for three or four days, spread out over a period of time before I find what I want, or just give up, on occasion.


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## JacksonCognac (Nov 12, 2007)

I tried doing a little research on Syrian Latakia too and I agree that it's very hard to find information. Actually, its hard to find information about a lot of tobaccos and blenders. Usually all I can find for any semi-obscure blend is retailers, a review on tobaccoreviews.com, and perhaps a thread or 2 on forums.

I did do a search for Latakia on wiki and according to this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latakia Latakia is the name of a city in Syria. It also goes on to say that:



wiki said:


> Latakia tobacco is a specially treated tobacco formerly produced in Syria, but now mainly produced in Cyprus.


I just figured that I would add this to the thread.


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## NCRadioMan (Feb 28, 2005)

Also, the US Embargo on Syria doesn't exactly make them want to change thier mind about not producing it.


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## JAK (Oct 10, 2007)

According to the blender at Rich's in Portland, who I talked to last week, Syrian Latakia is still availibe. He said that one tobacco blender lost his stock and started a rumor that no Syrian latakia is availible to anyone. Mr. Books, the blender at Rich's, said he still gets all the Syrian latakia he needs, and has at least one blend containing Syrian latakia.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

JAK said:


> According to the blender at Rich's in Portland, who I talked to last week, Syrian Latakia is still availibe. He said that one tobacco blender lost his stock and started a rumor that no Syrian latakia is availible to anyone. Mr. Books, the blender at Rich's, said he still gets all the Syrian latakia he needs, and has at least one blend containing Syrian latakia.


I don't know your man at Rich's in Portland, but he is mistaken. He is probably thinking about Cyprian Latakia, if he even knows that there are two varieties. If Syrian Latakia was still available, except for the companies that have some in inventory, do you think one of the greatest blenders ever, Greg Pease, owner of GL Pease Tobaccos, would not obtain it and continue production of his, six or so, world class blends, that he once produced using Syrian Latakia?

It amazes me that so many people seem to doubt the fact that Syrian Latakia is no longer available!


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## JAK (Oct 10, 2007)

He knows the differance and uses both. He has been blending tobacco for over 35 years. I really have no first hand knowldege, not being in the tobacco industry myself, but it seems as if many other blenders still have access to syrian latakia, including McC. If a master tobacco blender tells me he is still getting plenty syrian latakia, I am inclined to take his word for it.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

JAK said:


> *He knows the differance and uses both. He has been blending tobacco for over 35 years. * I really have no first hand knowldege, not being in the tobacco industry myself, but it seems as if many other blenders still have access to syrian latakia, including McC. If a master tobacco blender tells me he is still getting plenty syrian latakia, I am inclined to take his word for it.


I can't debate that with you. However, the only blenders that have access to Syrian Latakia are those that have personal supplies in storage. McC as you put it, I assume you mean McClelland, has the largest inventory, than any other company, in their storage facilities.


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## JacksonCognac (Nov 12, 2007)

JohnnyFlake said:


> I don't know your man at Rich's in Portland, but he is mistaken. He is probably thinking about Cyprian Latakia, if he even knows that there are two varieties. If Syrian Latakia was still available, except for the companies that have some in inventory, do you think one of the greatest blenders ever, Greg Pease, owner of GL Pease Tobaccos, would not obtain it and continue production of his, six or so, world class blends, that he once produced using Syrian Latakia?
> 
> It amazes me that so many people seem to doubt the fact that Syrian Latakia is no longer available!


Johnny that is a good point. I think that it is definately in limited availability - how limited is more or less unknown to the average joe... sorta like oil.


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## Bigfeet (Jan 14, 2008)

Bump with a question from a newbie.

Based on this post, would I be correct in saying that having a tin of Mac Baren Vintage Syrian would be a good thing? Especially if it is unopened?


Thanks!
Bigfeet


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## OilMan (May 12, 2006)

Nah, not such a good thing. You should send it to me to take care of for you:r


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## worr lord (Feb 3, 2007)

Cracked my tin of ACP. Good stuff, shame it's going to be gone =/


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## icculus1946 (Apr 24, 2006)

Bigfeet said:


> Bump with a question from a newbie.
> 
> Based on this post, would I be correct in saying that having a tin of Mac Baren Vintage Syrian would be a good thing? Especially if it is unopened?
> 
> ...


If you mean that it has increased value- no, not at this time. This blend is still readily available- FOR NOW.


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## NCatron (Sep 7, 2005)

Bigfeet said:


> Bump with a question from a newbie.
> 
> Based on this post, would I be correct in saying that having a tin of Mac Baren Vintage Syrian would be a good thing? Especially if it is unopened?
> 
> ...


Stocking up on something solely because of a future shortage is silly unless you know you like it. As mentioned it's still in ready supply, so go ahead and buy a tin and give it a shot. If you really love it, buy a few more tins and cellar them. But you might very well hate it.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

MacBaren Solent Mixture and Latakia Blend are two more to add to the list.


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## jgros001 (Jun 14, 2005)

NCatron said:


> Stocking up on something solely because of a future shortage is silly unless you know you like it. As mentioned it's still in ready supply, so go ahead and buy a tin and give it a shot. If you really love it, buy a few more tins and cellar them. But you might very well hate it.


You can look at this the other way as well. The price on tobacco is not going to go down and the shortage is there. I have bought a few tins listed in this thread and have no intention of cracking them anytime soon. I don't smoke a ton and have a lot of stuff open already. When I do open those tins, if I like it then great. If not, I really don't think I'll have any trouble selling it. I bought some Murray's production Dunhill tins as well when I saw it for regular price. If I were to only buy what I have sampled, well I'd only have 10 or so tins and I think I would be cheating myself if that is how I developed a tobacco cellar. Plus, most of what I buy today is for smoking in the future - I buy for today as well but think long term too. Just my opinion on this.


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## Bigfeet (Jan 14, 2008)

NCatron said:


> Stocking up on something solely because of a future shortage is silly unless you know you like it. As mentioned it's still in ready supply, so go ahead and buy a tin and give it a shot. If you really love it, buy a few more tins and cellar them. But you might very well hate it.


That is exactly my plan. I will see if this is a tobacco for me, and if not, no big deal.

Thanks for the help and answers.

Bigfeet


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## wharfrathoss (Dec 27, 2006)

i don't remember the name, but Brebbia makes at least one tobac w/syrian latakia in it, saw it poking around one of the links i found here


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## paperairplane (Nov 8, 2007)

I thought I had read that part of the problem was the amount of wood the Syrians were burning to make latakia....

Latakia is a process, much like Cavendish - so, a reasonable likeness should be able to be made with the available latakia in the future.


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